


A Second Chance

by ladyroxanne21



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: This one is messed up, You'll probably love it and hate it and cry, i have no idea how to tag this one, just read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 22:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7987942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a raid on Dark Wizards, Auror Harry Potter is hit with three curses that combine to change his life forever, and Draco Malfoy is the only one who can help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know where this one came from. I was reading a completely different fic, and this just hit me over the head and wouldn't let go until I wrote it down and posted it.   
> WARNING: This is NOT a typical Drarry!

“Harry, get down!” Ron shouted, one hand stretched out as if he could push Harry out of the way from across the room.

Hermione was closer to Harry and tried to put up a shield, but even she wasn't quite in time. Thus, three of the thirteen to fifteen ex death eaters and neo sympathizers managed to cast curses at Harry's back at the same time. Hermione was the quickest, throwing herself between them and Harry and casting a bubble shield before they could hit him with anything else. Then she spent the rest of the raid protecting Harry – who had fallen to the floor and she didn't have time to check on just yet – from all harm.

It really didn't take long, maybe five more minutes, and then the Aurors and Unspeakables involved in the raid on the Dark Wizards' safe house incarcerated everyone. Hermione took the time to check on Harry, praying that whatever had hit him hadn't managed to kill him. It had been three curses that had hit each other and combined into one unpredictable one just before hitting Harry, so literally anything could have happened.

And it did.

To Hermione's utter shock, she was now in a bubble shield with an infant sleeping in a pile of Harry's clothes. She picked the baby up gently – still more than half afraid that he was dead. Her relief to find him alive was so profound that it felt like ice water running through her veins.

“Oh Harry,” she whispered as she kissed his adorable and pudgy cheek. She bent to pick up Harry's shirt to used as a temporary blanket for the baby before she shrunk the rest of Harry's belongings and stored them in a pocket.

Ron broke away from the general chaos of the aftermath of the raid to come over to his newly wedded wife. He could see that she was holding something, but wasn't quite close enough to see what it was. Very subtly, he mouthed: _Where's Harry?_

Hermione was wide eyed as she looked at her husband. She pointed to the bundle she was holding and mouthed:  _Right here._

Ron barely had time to figure out what she could possibly be talking about when it occurred to him that they had to protect Harry. He rapidly whirled to their supervisor – the Head Auror – and rather boldly grabbed him by the arm to whisper in his ear. “Hermione needs to take Harry out of here  _now_ ! Please lower the Anti-Disapparation wards so that she can go to a designated safe house until we can meet with her.”

Dawlish simply nodded and canceled the ward. He nodded to Hermione, mouthing the code name of a particular safe house. She responded by nodding in understanding and Disapparating.

A half an hour later, Dawlish and Ron joined Hermione in order to learn what had happened. Immediately, they called in the foremost experts in healing curse damage and curse breaking. It took a good hour of diagnostic spells and trying everything they could think of before it was determined that:

“I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do!” The experts blurted out in unison.

“There's not actually any damage to his body,” the Healer explained. “Thus there's nothing for me to heal. If I were to give him an accelerated growth potion – as I would for someone who had been hit with a simple growth reversal curse – he would simply become an adult-sized baby.”

“And every single breaker spell I can possibly try has already failed,” the Curse Breaker added. “Which is what tells us that this is not simply our Harry trapped in a baby's body. This is Harry as he was as a baby.”

“He's about three months old, according to our diagnostics,” the Healer added. “Mentally and physically. We can _try_ to come up with a way to return him to normal, but...” She shrugged.

The Curse Breaker finished the sentence. “We strongly suspect that Harry is just going to have to grow up all over again.”

Ron and Hermione exchanged significant glances. “We'll raise him, of course.” They blurted out at the same time, sounding as if they thought that they'd have to convince the other. Then they laughed in relief that they were on the same page.

The Curse Breaker was still focused on the problem, muttering under his breath. “If only I could know for sure what spells were combined to create this result. I'm almost certain that one was a growth reversal, but the others had to have twisted it...”

“They were all cast nonverbally,” Hermione murmured sadly.

Ron put a hand on Dawlish's arm. “We're going to have to handle this very carefully. So many Dark Wizards still hunt for Harry that if it became known that he was a baby again, I'm almost certain that they'd come try to kill him – just to be able to say that they did, because a baby would be an absurdly easy target.”

Dawlish nodded in understanding. “We'll say that Harry went missing in action. We'll make sure that it's all over the papers. Better yet, we'll offer a reward for any and all information regarding his disappearance. That way, we'll hopefully learn if anyone ever gets close to discovering the truth of what happened. Also, I'll forge a birth certificate and have it slipped into St. Mungo's. Mrs. Granger-Weasley can go on an extended leave so that she can claim that she had a freak potions accident that made her have an accelerated pregnancy and delivery to cover up how you suddenly have a baby when she wasn't even pregnant.”

Hermione nodded in agreement. “When I come back to work, I'll say that I finally fixed the accident so that the baby is now growing at a normal rate.”

“So... We've got this all figured out?” Ron asked.

“Yeah,” Hermione agreed. “This should work.”

Dawlish nodded in agreement. Then he frowned. “One last thing: If Harry's safety ever comes into question, the two of you – as his 'legal parents' – have full authorization to hide him. Even from me. I'd rather he be safe than know where he is.”

Hermione nodded in understanding. Ron took Harry – who was now awake and staring at Hermione's face in fascination – from his wife and held him up. “We'll take care of you, mate. No matter how bloody weird it is that I'm going to have to change your nappies!”

Hermione giggled. “Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and the curse will break itself soon.” She stroked the soft peach fuzz on Harry's head. “But if not, we'll give you the wonderful childhood you should have had the first time.”

To prove that he really was a baby who couldn't understand what was being said, Harry did not smile or coo. Instead, he started to squirm and fuss. Ron shifted him and tried to rock him comfortingly, but Harry simply fussed even more.

The Healer smiled at them. “I think he's hungry and I can help with that.” She pointed her wand at Hermione's chest and cast a spell that made Hermione gasp incredulously and rub her suddenly aching breasts. “There! Even though you've never been pregnant or given birth, I've activated your ability to nurse.”

“Er...” Ron droned awkwardly. “Not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of my best mate putting his mouth on my wife's breasts.”

“Oh for heaven's sake, Ron!” Hermione burst out in something close to outrage. “He's a baby! It's not like he's going to be sexually interested in my breasts!” She snatched Harry back rather abruptly. “And I'm sorry if you don't like it, but that spell was powerful! I feel like I'm going to explode milk all over everything if I don't feed him right this second!”

Harry was fussing loudly enough that Hermione figured he probably agreed with getting a meal right then and there as well. She went to a corner and took off her shirt and bra so she could figure out how this whole nursing thing worked. The Healer followed her to give advice and tips.

Soon, Hermione had it figured out and sighed in relief. Ron watched silently as both Dawlish and the Curse Breaker decided to leave. After a few minutes, the Healer left too. Ron slowly walked closer to his wife.

“It's surprising how much I like seeing you feed a baby,” Ron remarked with a soft tone of awe. “If either of us had time to have kids, we could have had a couple of our own by now.”

Hermione looked up at him with shinning eyes. “Maybe we should have, rather than focusing on our careers.” She paused a moment, and then added: “We're going to have to give him a new name. We can't very well call him Harry Potter if we're trying to protect him from insane Dark Wizards.”

Ron nodded in agreement. “Well, we once agreed that if we ever had a girl, we'd name her Rose, and if we had a boy, we'd name him Hugo.”

“So...” Hermione stated with a smile – first for her husband, then for Harry. “We now have a son named Hugo Weasley.”

Ron sat down next to her and slung and arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

 

***

 

For the next three months, life was fairly blissful for Ron and Hermione. The things that were mildly disappointing to all were: One, the experts could not find any way to fix Harry – not even after figuring out the most likely combination of curses to cause the problem. And two, Harry showed no signs of accelerated growth or  _anything_ to indicate that the curse would break on its own.

Thus, they did their best to be parents, and found that they truly loved it. If it weren't for the fact that their best friend was never going to be the same again, they would have been utterly happy. As it was, Ron and Hermione were in a sort of honeymoon phase – a babymoon if you will – that felt like they imagined any new parents would feel.

And then...

It all came crashing down once again.

During another raid, Ron was captured by the enemy. Hermione had still been on leave, but after hearing the vow that the enemy would torture Ron until Harry was handed over to them... Well it made Hermione see red and seethe with rage. 

She had a choice to make between her best friend and her husband, and to her eternal surprise, there was no choice. She chose her husband. However, because there was the tiniest of hints that the Dark Wizards knew what had actually happened to Harry, she couldn't risk simply handing him over to Molly or Ginny. 

No... She had to find a place that would be safe for Harry that  _no one_ would ever think to look for him... Because she could  _not_ allow herself even a moment of worry for the baby once she left to go rescue her husband.

 

***

 

“Have you completely lost your mind?!” Draco blurted out in astonishment.

Hermione very patiently repeated her sentence word for word. “Harry needs your help.”

“Why in Salazar's name would I help Harry Potter?” Draco asked, still feeling a bit of shock. “And more importantly, why would _you_ ask me to?”

Hermione sighed. “Because – believe it or not – you are the only person I can trust with this. And I'm going to need to you agree and swear an unbreakable vow before I can tell you anything more.”

“No,” Draco stated flatly. “You may as well leave now, because I will never agree to those terms.”

“Malfoy... You owe Harry your life,” Hermione gently pointed out.

Draco sighed in defeat. “And for that very reason, I will help Potter. But I will not swear an unbreakable vow. If you actually trust me like you say you do, then you'll tell me what I need to do without it.”

Hermione took a moment to think this over in silence. Then she nodded in agreement. “Alright...”

Draco suppressed a gasp of surprise but couldn't prevent his eyes from widening. He honestly hadn't expected her to agree. He figured that she was simply trying to trick or use him and would leave when she realized that he wouldn't fall for it.

After another long and silent moment of thought, she ended a glamour spell hiding something strapped to her chest. Then she opened the carrier and pulled a sleeping baby out. With a nearly teary eyed smile – a bittersweet smile – she kissed the baby... and then held him out to Draco.

Draco took the child in confusion, studying his messy black hair and cherubic face. Since Hermione hadn't explained anything, he raised an intrigued brow at her. “Did Potter have an illicit love child that you need help hiding?”

“If I say yes, will you do it?” Hermione asked with a shrewd expression.

“Er, no,” Draco stated flatly. “The so called Savior can take care of his own bastards, even if he is missing – which I assume that he must not be if you are here asking me to help him.”

Hermione took a deep breath, and then gestured to the baby. “We've been calling him Hugo, since we can't exactly call him Harry when Dark Wizards would be oh so eager to kill him now that he's so defenseless.”

“He... What? _This_ is Potter?!” Draco nearly dropped the baby in his astonishment.

“Yes,” Hermione nearly whispered in confirmation. “Ron and I planned to raise him as our very own, but then... Well Ron was captured and I have to go find him and rescue him. It might take me days or it might take me years, but I can't... I can't _not_ go after him. I also can't leave Harry with anyone I would leave my actual child with. The Dark Wizards have hinted both subtly and overtly that they might know that Harry is now a defenseless baby. They have demanded that we hand Harry over in exchange for Ron, and well... _I will never do that_.” That last bit was stated very softly but also so full of fierce determination that Draco instinctively knew that she would rather die than let any harm come to this baby.

Draco nodded in understanding. “So... you simply want me to take care of him until you find your husband and come home?”

Hermione nodded. “If everything goes according to plan. Yes.”

“And if it doesn't?” Draco asked, nearly whispering himself now from the cold chill of apprehension running down his spine.

Hermione sighed wearily, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. “If the worst happens, you'll need to raise him as your own. In fact, to avoid suspicion – of suddenly having an extra child – we have a cover story prepared. I would recommend not taking him out of your very well warded Manor until you are certain that everyone in the world accepts that he is your child. And it will be up to you to decide if and when you want to claim him as yours – if the worst should happen, that is.”

Hermione handed him a bundle of documents. “In here is a fake birth certificate that has also been secretly registered at St. Mungo's. Once you fill it in with a name, the other one will update. You only need to fill it in if you plan to claim him as yours, and you only need to do that if we cannot or do not come back...” she left the rest unsaid.

Draco felt overawed with the responsibility. “Why me? Why do you trust me to take care of him?”

Hermione frowned. “I already told you, you owe him and no one else can protect him or hide him like you can. Plus, no one in the world would expect me to give him to you.”

“I see,” Draco murmured, still reeling from this entire situation. “What happened to him?”

Hermione explained, and then she cleared her throat and glared at Draco. “Listen... If all goes well, we we be back for him as soon as we can, but... Well... If the worst happens and you have to raise him as your own, I beg you to treat him kindly. He's an innocent baby, Malfoy. He's more than likely never going to remember who he was, and so he will literally have an entirely new life.”

She paused to pick up the previously untouched cup of tea in front of her. Taking a tiny sip to wet her dry mouth, she continued. “In many ways, he deserves this second chance. Rather than the abuse he suffered as a child, we were going to raise him with love. We vowed to make sure that he never knew neglect or starvation or... being told he was worthless and a freak...”

Hermione cleared her throat and looked away. “I can't make you promise to love him like your own, but please, at least promise that you will treat him well. Be kind to him. Don't let him grow up like...  _that_ ... again.”

Draco was actually gaping. When he saw Hermione look at him, he closed his mouth and looked to the child sleeping in his arms. “He... was abused,” he swallowed when he realized that his mouth had gone dry. “As a child?”

Hermione nodded. “It's wasn't physical abuse. He wasn't beaten or raped or anything like that, but his aunt and uncle locked him up and treated him very poorly. I would give you anything you wanted if you would just promise to be nice to him.”

Draco shook his head. “No. I don't need anything to make such a promise. I could no more harm a child than I could kill... well... Dumbledore...” He flushed, not liking that it had once been something he'd been ordered to do.

“I hoped that would be the case,” Hermione replied softly, a tiny smile crumpling her lips. She downed the rest of her tea. “And now that I know you will take care of him, I really need to go.”

Draco nodded. “Wait, before you go, that cover story... Was it that Astoria gave birth to twins, but that we wanted to keep one a secret just in case previous enemies decided to target us?”

Hermione smirked. “It did seem like the most plausible – considering that Harry is very close in age to your son. I figure that you can always glamour Harry if necessary when taking him out in public so that he looks more like a Malfoy.”

Draco took a deep breath. “I'll take good care of him, no matter how long it takes for you to come back for him.”

“Thank you,” Hermione stated, her voice quivering from a variety of emotions. She stood up and walked over to Draco's chair so that she could kiss Harry's head. “Goodbye,” she whispered to him. 

Then she completely flustered Draco by kissing him too. “You hold half of my heart in your hands. I'm about to go rescue the other half, but I truly appreciate what you are doing. I will owe you anything you ask in return for this.”

“I understand,” Draco murmured solemnly.

With that, Hermione pointed at the bag of belongings (including a supply of breast milk that she had pumped to rid the excess she produced over the past few months). Then, she forced herself to walk out of the room without looking back. It was quite possibly one of  _the hardest_ things she had ever done.

 

***

 

Draco heard no word from Hermione for over a year, during which time, he and his wife secretly raised Harry Potter as if he really was their son. They were private people by nature, and so no one had truly seen Scorpius. Thus, it wouldn't be  _too_ hard to enact the cover story if needed. Strangely, they couldn't help but fall in love with adorable baby Harry – who had taken to Scorpius as if they really were twins.

The longer Draco had Harry, the more he found himself wanting to keep him. Only, he couldn't quite bring himself to wish Hermione ill luck in her mission. He told himself that it was only a matter of time before the two Weasleys returned for their best friend.

Thus, it was with a large amount of trepidation that Draco opened the letter from Hermione. His hands literally shook, and Astoria watched him with no small amount of regret in her eyes. They were both certain that Hermione was announcing her successful return.

_Dear Malfoy,_

_I must apologize that my mission is taking me so long. I know that it must be frustrating to not know when or if I will return to snatch away a child that you have now raised for much longer than I had him. I can't say much – in case this letter is intercepted – but I can say this: My mission may never end. The enemy always seems to be at least two steps ahead of me. I've chased them all around the world and it appears that I'm going to have to do it all over again. Thus, I have come to the heartbreaking decision that it will be for the best for the child if you enact the worst case scenario. If you want, that is. You may still choose to wait for me, but I honestly don't know how long it will take. Don't try responding to this letter, I wouldn't receive it anyway. Thank you again and again!_

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger-Weasley_

_P.S. Give him a kiss from me and tell him I love him._

Draco's hands shook harder than ever as he handed the letter to his wife. She read it, and then was silent for a long moment before she looked up at him. When she did, she wore a soft smile. A loving smile.

“We get to keep him...” she whispered in relief.

Draco nodded, also feeling an unexpectedly profound relief.

“I don't think I could give him up now if I had to,” Astoria murmured softly. “He's such a delightful baby.”

“I agree,” Draco stated. “The perfect, complementary opposite to Scorpius.”

Astoria nodded in agreement. The two babies were like the sun and the moon with Harry being bubbly and outgoing and adventurous and Scorpius being quiet and shy and thoughtful. They played well together and seemed to bring out the best in each other.

Draco summoned the packet containing the fake birth certificate. With a now astonishingly steady hand, he filled in the name: Hyperion Malfoy – a name that they had been calling him ever since Hermione dropped him off, and now it was official.

Draco picked up the baby in question – now approximately 18 months old, and thus more a toddler than a baby. With a soft smile, he whispered in the boy's ear. “You're mine now, and I will never let anything hurt you ever again.” He pressed a kiss to Hyperion's forehead before caving into to the squirming demand to put him down.

Once on his feet, Hyperion gave Draco a huge toothy grin. “Da!”

Draco bent over to allow Hyperion to “whisper” in his ear as the child wanted. Even so, he was taken aback when Hyperion copied a phrase Astoria said all the time – to everyone in the family. “Lub you!” Hyperion then kissed Draco's cheek (making his heart twist funnily) before running over to his “twin” brother. “Scor! Scor!”

Scorpius held up the wiggly toy snake he was playing with and tried bashing his brother over the head with it. “Hy! Hy!”

The two brothers promptly made up a game that only they would ever be able to understand. Draco watched them play with a multitude of emotions running across his face. Astoria wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

In a very tiny voice, she whispered in his ear. “If it's true that he had a terrible childhood the first time around, it's only fair that the Savior of the Wizarding World be allowed to have a happy one this time around.”

“I agree,” Draco whispered in return, kissing her on the cheek.

 

***

 

On a day about a month after Scorpius and Hyperion's fifth birthday, Hermione returned to Malfoy Manor. Draco felt his heart positively drop to his feet at the sight of her. He and Astoria clutched hands and tried their best to put on a brave face.

Hermione looked utterly worn out. She forced a smile, but they could tell that it wasn't heartfelt. Before anything else, they invited her to take a seat and offered tea – which she accepted gratefully.

Then she got right down to business. “I just need to see him. If he looks happy here, then I will not take him from you.”

Draco exhaled in relief. “First things first... What happened?”

Hermione shrugged, a gesture that indicated weariness as much as anything. “I  _finally_ found Ron. He's alive, but...” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “He was tortured so badly over the years that he may as well be in a coma at the moment. He's only a shell of his former self, and it will take years of therapy for him to...” She shrugged again, this time it seemed to indicate helplessness. “In any case, I really don't think that I  _could_ raise a child while I cared for him. At least not for a while.”

“I'm so sorry,” Draco murmured in sympathy, astonishing himself as much as Hermione with his sincerity. 

Astoria leaned forward and took Hermione's hands in hers. “We'll help in any way we can. You are more or less family now because of your connection to Hyperion.”

Hermione parted her lips in a small oh of surprise, and then she mouthed  _Hyperion_ .

Draco clapped to indicate that he wanted a house elf to attend to him. One popped into the room right away. “Mimsy, are Hyperion and Scorpius still napping?”

“Yes, Master Draco,” Mimsy replied with a fond smile on her little elf face.

“Thank you,” Draco praised her, waving to indicate that she could leave. “The boys should be waking from their nap anytime now. I suppose that they wouldn't be too upset if we woke them a bit early.”

“They're napping?” Hermione asked with a frown. “Aren't they a bit old for nap time?”

Astoria chuckled and shook her head. “Perhaps they are, but Scorpius tends to simply fall asleep after lunch and Hyperion tries to stay awake, but he runs around the garden for a few minutes before basically dropping from the exhaustion of playing all morning.”

Astoria got to her feet and pulled Hermione out of her chair. “Come. I'll show you.”

Draco followed as his wife led their guest out into the garden. In the center of very carefully arranged beauty, there was a large, plush pillow. Over the pillow hovered an outdoor parasol that shaded the sleeping boys no matter how the sun moved. Next to the pillow – a few feet away – was an intricately designed wrought iron table that was also shaded by a large parasol. A house elf sat in one of the chairs, staring intently at her charges. When she saw Draco and Astoria, she stood up, bowed respectfully, and then disappeared.

Draco gracefully squatted next to Hyperion and stroked his back. “Hyperion... Son, wake up...” 

The child with wild black hair opened his startlingly vivid green eyes and peered up at Draco. Then he grinned and sat up abruptly. “Dad! You're home from work early!”

Draco smiled at him in return. “Yes. We have a guest today. Would you like to meet her?”

“A guest? Sounds fun, we almost never have guests!” Hyperion exclaimed in excitement, throwing his arms around his father for an impulsive hug.

Draco ruffled his messy hair, and then pointed over toward Hermione. Before he could say anything, Scorpius yawned and stretched. “Do I get to meet the guest too?”

“Of course,” Draco assured him. 

Hyperion immediately ran over to Hermione, but when Scorpius realized that she was right there, he squeaked in dismay and hid behind his father. Draco chuckled and lifted his son into his arms as he stood up.

Astoria got to her knees so that she was eye to eye with Hyperion. “This isn't just any guest, she's a very special guest named Hermione. She's a bit like your aunt.”

“We have an aunt?” Hyperion asked, his eyes wide in awe. He promptly ran the short distance back to his dad and tugged on Scorpius' leg. “Did you hear that, Scorp? We have an aunt!”

“Daphne is our aunt,” Scorpius reminded him. “Pansy is our aunt. Why do we need another one?”

“Because more family is _always_ better!” Hyperion insisted, still tugging on Scorpius' leg. “Come on! Come say hi!”

Scorpius sighed in defeat. “If I must.”

Draco set Scorpius on his feet, and then watched the two boys hold hands and walk over to their guest. Hermione was watching them avidly, a smile – a true and genuine smile, the first in a  _long_ time – on her face as she took note of every detail.

Hyperion naturally took the lead. “Hello; my name is Hyperion, and this is my twin brother Scorpius. He's a bit shy, so don't try to shake his hand. You can shake mine though.” He held a hand out to prove that he was telling the truth.

“Hello, Hyperion, pleased to meet you,” Hermione stated as she shook his hand.

Hyperion frowned and bit his lip. “I... I feel like I know you. Like I  _should_ know you.” Then he shook his head. “But I've never met you before.

Hermione winked at him and leaned forward as if she was about to share a secret with him. “I knew you as a baby. Perhaps you remember the time I babysat you.”

“Just me?” Hyperion glanced toward his brother in confusion.

“Well, yes,” Hermione admitted with a tiny shrug. “Your brother had a bit of a cold.”

“Oh,” Hyperion murmured, nodding because this made sense. “So that's why you look familiar.”

Hermione nodded as she knelt before him. Then she ruffled his hair, making him giggle.

“I love when people mess up my hair! It never just lies flat, you know. No matter how much magic my mum uses to get it to behave, it just grows messier and messier!”

“Does it?” Hermione asked with a mischievous smirk. “I once knew a different little boy who lived with a nasty aunt. She wanted his hair to be neat and orderly at all times, so she'd try to cut his hair short and make sure that it _couldn't_ misbehave. But do you know what happened?”

Hyperion stared at her with wide eyes, his attention focused on her to the point that he even leaned forward a bit. “No... What?”

“He had magic, so his hair grew back over night – no matter how many times she cut it. And the more she brushed it, the messier it got. His hair refused to obey her even though the boy himself had to,” Hermione informed him.

“My hair does that too!” Hyperion exclaimed, bouncing in excitement. “Mother often sighs in frustration that my hair refuses to obey like Scorpius' does.” Then he frowned in thought. “What happened to the little boy you knew?”

“Oh, he grew up and turned into a very dear friend of mine,” Hermione informed him, still smiling. “And before you ask, he never did have neat hair.”

Hyperion giggled again, then shook his head. “No, I wanted to know if he still had to obey his nasty aunt.”

“Oh no,” Hermione promised, shaking her head. “The very moment he turned seventeen, he left his aunt, uncle, and cousin and never saw them again.”

Hyperion frowned again. “Never? But weren't they still his family?” 

Hermione shook her head. “No. Only people who care about you are family. Those people didn't care about him.”

“What was his name?” Hyperion asked.

“Harry Potter,” Hermione answered after just one second of hesitation.

Scorpius gasped before Hyperion could say anything. “Harry Potter!  _The_ Harry Potter? The Hero who saved us all from the Dark Lord?!”

“We've read about him,” Hyperion added with a grin. “Did you know that he had green eyes like me? And a scar shaped like a lightning bolt! I often wonder what it would be like to have such a cool scar.” Hyperion emphasized this by tracing the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead – exactly where the scar had once been.

Hermione exchanged looks with Draco and Astoria, all of them wondering if Harry might have memories buried deep inside him after all.

“What?” Hyperion asked with a curious frown.

Hermione gave him a kind smile. “Oh sure, a scar like that  _sounds_ cool, but it was always hurting Harry and giving him nightmares. It connected him to the Dark Lord's mind.”

“That doesn't sound very fun at all,” Hyperion admitted with a sympathetic frown.

“No,” Hermione agreed.

Hyperion threw his arms around her neck and gave her a tight hug. “I like you! You talk to me like I'm a big boy! Can I tell you a secret?”

Hermione look up at Draco to see how he was reacting to this – both the hug and the offered secret. Seeing that he was surprised but not upset, she smiled at Hyperion. “What sort of secret?”

“A _secret_ secret,” Hyperion stated, giving her a look like she was being silly. “A good secret.”

“A secret that your mother and father don't know?” Hermione asked.

“Well... not yet, but Scorpius does. He knows _all_ my secrets,” Hyperion informed them all, giving his twin a huge grin.

“Well... alright,” Hermione agreed with a curious smile. “If you want to tell me a secret, I'll listen.”

“Good, because I feel like you're my best friend in the whole world! Like I could tell you anything!” Hyperion announced as he enthusiastically tried to drag Hermione deeper into the garden.

Hermione got to her feet with a laugh and followed him, Draco, Astoria, and Scorpius watching with puzzled expressions. Scorpius suddenly grinned with enlightenment and said: “Oh!” A moment later, Hyperion pointed to a large bush of magically glittering pink roses.

_Come out and play,_ Hyperion hissed as he crouched in front of the bush, holding his hand out. Two seconds passed in silence before a small, thin, green snake emerged from a hole in the ground just barely hidden by the bush.

_Play?_ The snake asked as it crawled up Hyperion's arm.

“This is my friend. I call her my Basilisk, even though she is just a garden snake,” Hyperion introduced. _Do you like my friend, Basilisk? Her name is Hermione_.

Basilisk flicked her tongue at Hermione a couple of times.  _She smells nice._

“Wow,” Hermione murmured with a smile. “Can I hold her?”

Hyperion decided to ask first, and Basilisk slithered up his arm as fast as she could while saying no. Hyperion shook his head. “She's shy, like Scorpius.”

“Well, that's just fine. It's perfectly okay to be shy,” Hermione informed him. “Basilisk is lovely. I'm sure she makes a wonderful friend.”

“Oh she does!” Hyperion assured her. “The best!” He then waved his hand around as he turned in a circle. “There are _lots_ of snakes in the garden! They love it here because it's the best home; full of bugs and other things to eat. I talk to them all the time. Scorpius thinks it's weird that I can talk to them and he can't, but I make sure that he knows what they are saying. There's even a snake that likes Scorpius to pet him.”

“That sounds lovely,” Hermione assured him. Then she ruffled his hair again. “I should probably get going. I have lots of things I need to do.”

Hyperion looked crestfallen. “Oh... Will I ever get to see you again?”

“Of course,” Hermione stated, kissing his cheek. “I'll visit whenever I can.”

Hyperion flung his arms around her again. “Good! And don't take too long to visit. I want to see you all the time!”

Hermione burst into tears, squeezed Hyperion tight, and then pulled free. “I'm sorry, I – I have to go!” She ran away until she could Disapparate, and then disappeared.

Hyperion was so sad that he walked over and rested his head on Scorpius' shoulder. “Why did she run away like that?”

Scorpius rubbed his back. “She said she had lots of things to do. I'm sure she didn't  _want_ to leave.”

“I miss her already!” Hyperion wailed, falling into a very rare temper tantrum.

Draco and Astoria exchanged knowing looks. They were also concerned. Part of them was afraid that repeated exposure to Hermione might remind him of who he actually was, and they couldn't quite figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing. With a shrug, Draco decided to distract him.

“Son... why didn't you tell us you can talk to snakes?”

Hyperion gave him a mischievous smirk that was all Harry at his most devious. “Because I didn't think you would like it. I thought you would be afraid. You once told me that even though you were sorted into Slytherin, you were a tiny bit afraid of snakes.”

Draco pushed lightly on his nose. “BIG snakes. I'm a tiny bit afraid of  _big_ snakes that can eat people. Like Basilisks.” He smiled at Hyperion. “I like little snakes just fine.”

“Oh,” Hyperion stated with a smile. He pulled Basilisk out of his shirt where she was hiding. “This is my friend, and even though I call her Basilisk, she's far too tiny to be afraid of.”

Draco chuckled and ruffled his hair. “So I see.”

 

***

 

For their tenth birthday, Draco got his boys the same thing he had gotten on his tenth birthday – the current top of the line brooms. He was actually looking forward to teaching them to fly. Deep down, he was also very curious as to how well they would do playing informal seekers' games against each other.

Scorpius scrutinized his broom on the ground suspiciously. “It's not going to let me fall, is it?”

Draco chuckled because that had been  _exactly_ the first thing he had asked when he was ten. “I promise that you won't fall unless something knocks you off the broom – such as a mischievous twin brother.”

“I wouldn't do such a thing, Scorp, I promise!” Hyperion cried out fervently.

Scorpius nodded in acceptance.

“Alright, you first,” Draco stated, pointing at Scorpius since he looked like he would need more encouragement. “Hold your hand over your broom and say: up!”

Scorpius held out his hand, took a breath to gather up all that Malfoy superiority that was born and bred within him, and commanded: “Up!” The broom responded by raising slowly toward his hand. When it was in his grasp, Draco smiled at him.

“Now, simply put one leg over it – like this.” He demonstrated.

Scorpius did as told, and then kicked off the ground to hover at a height of exactly three feet like his father told him to. Motioning for Scorpius to stay put, Draco turned to Hyperion.

With a grin, Hyperion didn't even wait to be told. “Up!” The broom flew into his hand as eagerly as a crup hearing food being poured into his dish. Then Hyperion mounted his broom and shot up a good six feet into the air. He whooped with joy and did a spontaneous barrel roll over the axis of the broom. “I  _love_ flying!”

Draco's first response was an urge to yell and insist that Hyperion come back down and be careful. Then he remembered that the first time Harry had ever been on a broom, he'd had such natural talent that he caught a small Remembrall and gained a position on his House Quidditch team. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Draco mounted his broom.

“Scorpius? Do you think you can fly higher?” Draco asked with an encouraging smile.

“I can do whatever Hyperion can!” Scorpius insisted haughtily.

“Of course you can,” Draco assured him. “Hyperion? Do you think you can follow my lead and resist going off on your own?”

Hyperion sighed as if Draco had just killed all the joy in his life. “Yes dad.”

“Good,” Draco stated with a smirk. Starting out slowly to test Scorpius' ability and limits, Draco led them through a series of ever more challenging flying skills. When he was confident that even Scorpius could handle his broom fairly well, he gave them permission to simply fly around as they liked while he returned to the ground to watch them. Of course, they had to stay on Malfoy property so that they didn't risk being seen by muggles, but since the property was so large, this was no hardship.

“When we go to Hogwarts, _I'm_ going to try out for the House Quidditch team!” Hyperion announced. “I'm going to be a seeker!”

“Then we better not be sorted into the same house!” Scorpius warned. “Because _I'm_ going to be a seeker too!”

Hyperion laughed. “And I'm going to win all my matches, and you're going to win all  _your_ matches, and when we play against each other, we're going to win together!”

Scorpius snorted in amusement and derision. “We can't  _both_ win!”

“Just you wait! _I'll_ figure out how we can!” Hyperion informed him confidently.

Draco chuckled. “Well, if you do, it'll certainly be interesting to see!” He then pulled a snitch out of his pocket and set it free. It was charmed to stay on Malfoy property, but aside from that, everywhere was fair game.

“I'm going to catch it before you!” Scorpius declared in exactly the same tone a King might announce that he was going to have hot buttered scones for breakfast.

“We'll see!” Hyperion stated with a shrug. After that, the two boys focused all their attention on finding the snitch. Draco watched them with the oddest sensation that he was looking into a mirror that showed his past. This sent a shiver down his spine.

“He looks almost exactly the way he did back then,” Draco whispered to himself. “Only... happy...” This was hard to accept because it vividly illustrated just how unhappy Harry had been back in school despite looking (and probably being) happy to be away from his terrible relatives.

Draco shook his head to get rid of the strange comparisons. No matter what, Hyperion was a different person than Harry had been. Yes, they shared similarities. Personality traits and talents – and Parseltongue – but Hyperion was free from all of the things that made Harry... a reckless boy with a Hero complex.

A sense of pride filled him as he realized that he had raised Hyperion the way that Harry should have been to begin with. The way he probably  _would_ have been had his parents not died. It was still a bit surreal that he now considered his school rival and bane of his existence his son. A son he loved dearly and would do anything to make happy.

The two boys waved to him as they flew around – and more than half of him wondered if they had forgotten about the snitch, but then Hyperion pointed it out to Scorpius and the two of them took off after it. Draco smirked and muttered under his breath: “That's not the way the game is played.” But he didn't correct them.

 

***

 

When Hyperion first stepped off the Hogwarts Express, Hagrid nearly fainted. Ever the most friendly of children, he introduced himself to the half giant. His twin trying to hide behind him.

“Hi! I'm Hyperion Malfoy, and this is my twin brother Scorpius. Don't try to shake his hand because he's shy.”

Scorpius gave Hagrid a weak smile and a tiny wave. Hagrid grinned at Scorpius, having a weak spot for painfully shy kids. Then he returned his focus to Hyperion, who was holding his hand out expectantly.

“Hello Hyperion,” Hagrid said as he shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I'm called Hagrid... You look a lot like a little boy I used to know.”

Hyperion giggled. “My Aunt Hermione says the same thing. Do you know my Aunt? She's sort of famous because she once helped  _the Harry Potter_ save the world!”

“Er...” Hagrid scratched his head in confusion. “Yes. I know her.”

“Anyway, she says that I bear a striking resemblance to the Boy-Who-Lived but that I'm not to worry if people think I look like him since I'm not him,” Hyperion explained with a grin.

“Er... right,” Hagrid stated, and then decided to do his job.

Later on, McGonagall took one look at Hyperion... and nearly fainted. She had to do something very unprecedented and delay the Sorting Ceremony so that she could make an emergency firecall to Draco Malfoy. Draco gave her the bare minimum of facts – which she immediately verified with Hermione. After that, she called a quick conference with the other teachers and gave  _them_ the bare minimum of facts. 

Finally, the still rather astonished Headmistress let the First Years into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. When the time came, the Sorting Hat was placed on Hyperion's head.

“Well now,” the Hat said in Hyperion's head. “This is highly unusual. Harry Potter has come back to school! You have all the same power you did before, but none of the influence from the Dark Lord. You would do just as well in Gryffindor – if you want – or you could choose Hufflepuff or even Ravenclaw. With no worries to occupy you, you'd do well in Ravenclaw if you put your mind to it. Although, you no longer have that spark that would become greatness if you went into Slytherin. Still you could do well there. Where to put you...?”

Hyperion sighed. “Even you think I'm Harry Potter. I'm not! I'm Hyperion Malfoy!”

“Oh...” the Hat murmured in a knowing tone. “My mistake, _Hyperion_. So, where to put you?”

“I'm fairly sure that my brother Scorpius wants to go to Slytherin like our father and mother were and make them proud. I _would_ want to go with him so that I can protect him and help make sure that he makes friends, but we made a promise to each other that we'd get sorted into different houses so that we can both be seekers for our house teams, so, can you please put me in any house but Slytherin?”

“Anywhere but Slytherin?” The Hat asked in surprise because this child that was insisting that he _wasn't_ Harry Potter used almost the same phrase that Harry had. “If you're sure...”

“I'm sure!” Hyperion insisted.

“In that case, better be: Gryffindor!” The Hat announced.

At first, the hat wanted to place Scorpius in Ravenclaw, but Scorpius refused. He knew he'd do well in Ravenclaw, but he wanted a chance to prove that Slytherin could be a good house too. His father had explained to them how Slytherin had gotten a great deal of damage to its reputation during the Second Wizarding War, and Scorpius wanted to repair it.

“I'm going to be the most Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, _Hufflepuff_ Slytherin ever! I'm going to be the _definition_ of house unity! I'm going to lead Slytherin back onto the path of being the best house in the school!” Scorpius vowed passionately.

“Well, if you're sure...” the Hat murmured hesitantly.

“I'm sure,” Scorpius insisted.

“Then... Slytherin!” The Hat called out for everyone.

Hyperion did something that no student had ever dared to do before. He leapt up from his seat at the Gryffindor table – having been welcomed as warmly as everyone else – and ran over to Scorpius as he was still sliding off the stool and handing the Hat back to McGonagall.

“Congratulations!” Hyperion cheered as he hugged his twin. “I'm so proud of you!”

“I'm proud of you too,” Scorpius murmured, hugging his brother in return. Then – before the Headmistress could scold them – they separated and went to their house tables.

It was then that McGonagall fully realized that she was going to have to deal with Harry Potter all over again. Suppressing a sigh and the urge to rub her temples, she called out the next name on the list. Silently, she vowed to do whatever she could to make the next seven years as easy on her as possible – starting with offering Hermione a position and the role of Head of Gryffindor House.

 

***

 

On May First of Hyperion's Seventh Year, he stayed up later than usual studying for his N.E.W.T.s. Just the same as all seven years of his schooling up until now, he learned easily. The knowledge came to him as if he'd always known it and just needed a reminder. At this rate, he really would have done well in Ravenclaw!

He went to bed at about half ten, and fell into a deeply restful sleep. Almost exactly at midnight, he started having strange dreams. Dreams in which he lived in a cupboard. Dreams in which people continually tried to kill him. Dreams in which he lived an entirely different life.

He fell into a coma that no one could bring him out of – not even Madam Pomfrey – who at least recognized that he wasn't cursed or hurt in anyway. He was simply... asleep.

For two weeks, Hyperion lay in a bed in the Hospital Wing. He often thrashed about and moaned as if having nightmares, but nothing woke him up. His parents and Hermione took turns sitting with him and holding his hand.

Until one day, he woke up.

“Dad,” Hyperion croaked hoarsely when he saw Draco sitting next to him, reading a book as peacefully as possible, but Hyperion could see the tension and worry in his body.

“Hyperion! You're awake!” Draco cried out in profound relief, nearly crushing his son in a hug.

Hyperion stiffened and looked away.

“What's wrong?” Draco wondered, feeling hurt by the distance his son was putting between them.

“It's... it's just weird...” Hyperion muttered. “I know you're my dad, but I also know that you're... not...”

Draco inhaled a soft gasp, his eyes widening in shock.

“You're... someone I used to hate quite a lot...” Hyperion continued.

Draco pressed a hand to his heart and felt tears sting his eyes. He got up abruptly. “I'll... I'll just go get...” He turned to run from the room, but Hyperion caught his hand.

“Don't go!” Hyperion insisted. “Look, I just relived my entire life up until I was turned back into a baby, and while I don't know exactly how it happened, I know that you took me in and raised me as if I really was your son. You never once made me feel unloved or as if I wasn't part of the family. I... I just want to thank you... for being a good dad.”

Draco could not stop himself from bursting into sobs. Hyperion pulled him into a tight hug. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother, Scorpius, and Hermione enter the Hospital Wing. Astoria eventually got close enough to rub her husband on the back. They all took turns hugging Hyperion. Hermione went last.

Hyperion looked Hermione in the eye, and then frowned. “First, whatever happened to Ron? And secondly, how did I end up in Malfoy's care?”

Hermione gasped in shock. “Harry...” she whispered in a tiny but awe filled voice.

Hyperion nodded in confirmation. “Although I'm still... me. Hyperion Malfoy.”

Hermione nodded in understanding. Then she held his hand as she got comfortable in a chair. It occurred to Hyperion that he was a seventeen year old boy who would be 18 – well actually, the matter of when he would actually turned 18 was now wildly open for interpretation. In contrast, Hermione looked like she was  _at least_ 40 years old.

Hermione sighed. “What happened to you is relatively simple to explain. During a raid gone wrong, three different former death eaters cast curses at you that combined into something that turned you back into a three month old baby. Ron and I took you in and vowed to raise you – and we actually did for three whole months, until...”

Her voice quivered and she had to clear her throat. Hyperion squeezed her hand, hoping to comfort her. She swallowed, and then continued.

“Until Ron was kidnapped and tortured for years until I managed to track him down and rescue him. To you remember what happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom?”

Hyperion gulped, and then nodded very solemnly.

“Ron is in a similar state. He knows who I am and can talk to me about simple things like the weather and Quidditch, but he's a very broken man compared to how you remember him,” Hermione explained. “I take care of him – which is more or less my full time job now.”

Hyperion wiped tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. “Can... Can I see him?”

Hermione dabbed at her own eyes. “I'm sure he'd like that.” She then explained her reasoning for giving Harry to Draco as opposed to anyone else who would have gladly taken him in. 

As she spoke, Scorpius slipped into the bed with him and laid his head on Hyperion's shoulder. They also held hands. Scorpius was still reeling from shock that Hyperion wasn't biologically his twin brother, and Hyperion instinctively comforted him. 

When Hermione was done, Hyperion smiled at Draco again.

“You are a far better man than I ever gave you credit for, and that's saying something considering that I remember defending you to a lot of people after the war,” Hyperion stated, holding a hand out to Draco. Draco took it, looking a bit wary of this new person who was both his son _and_ his former enemy. Hyperion gave him an intensely piercing look. “I want you to know that I couldn't have asked for a better person to raise me. I am certain that Ron and Hermione would have done an excellent job if they'd had the chance, but you... You were the right man for the job.”

Draco felt choked up again. It took him a moment to regain the ability to speak. “Well... you were a joy to raise... And you helped me remember every day what kind of man I wanted to be so that I raised children worthy of living in the world you saved.”

Hyperion nodded, finding that there really wasn't anything more to say, except: “I love you, dad.”

Draco felt tears leaking from his eyes again and unsuccessfully tried to wipe them away. “I love you too, son.”

Hyperion smiled because he knew that this time around, he was going to make different choices. He was going to live in a way that made him happy and didn't put his life at risk. He was going to have children and strive to be the kind of man that raised them so that they'd be worthy of living in the world he had saved.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So um... How badly do you hate me now? I'm sorry I put you through that... (Hands out cookies to everyone.)


End file.
